Leviticus 26:21

English Standard Version

"Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins.

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
If you walk contrary to me, and won't listen to me, I will bring seven times more plagues on you according to your sins.

King James Version
And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.

Lexham English Bible
"‘And if you go against me in hostility and you are not willing to listen to me, then I will add a plague onto you seven times according to your sins.

New Century Version
"‘If you still turn against me and refuse to obey me, I will beat you seven times harder. The more you sin, the more you will be punished.

New English Translation
"‘If you walk in hostility against me and are not willing to obey me, I will increase your affliction seven times according to your sins.

Amplified Bible
'If then, you act with hostility toward Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the plague on you seven times in accordance with your sins.

New American Standard Bible
'Yet if you show hostility toward Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the plague on you seven times according to your sins.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And if ye walke stubburnly against me, and will not obey mee, I will then bring seuen times mo plagues vpon you, according to your sinnes.

Legacy Standard Bible
‘If then, you walk in hostility against Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the plague on you seven times according to your sins.

Contemporary English Version
If you keep rebelling against me, I'll punish you seven times worse, just as your sins deserve!

Complete Jewish Bible
"‘Yes, if you go against me and don't listen to me, I will increase your calamities sevenfold, according to your sins.

Darby Translation
And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me, I will bring sevenfold more plagues upon you according to your sins.

Easy-to-Read Version
"If you still turn against me and refuse to obey me, I will beat you seven times harder! The more you sin, the more you will be punished.

George Lamsa Translation
And if you walk contrary to me and will not hearken to me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.

Good News Translation
"If you still continue to resist me and refuse to obey me, I will again increase your punishment seven times.

Christian Standard Bible®
“If you act with hostility toward me and are unwilling to obey me, I will multiply your plagues seven times for your sins.

Literal Translation
And if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to listen to Me, then I will bring seven times more plagues on you according to your sins,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Yf ye walke yet agaynst me, and wyll not harken vnto me, then wyl I make it yet seuen tymes more, to punysh you because of youre synnes:

American Standard Version
And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.

Bible in Basic English
And if you still go against me and will not give ear to me, I will put seven times more punishments on you because of your sins.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And if ye walke contrarie vnto me, and wyll not hearken vnto me, I wyll bryng seuen tymes mo plagues vpon you, accordyng to your sinnes.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And if ye walk contrary unto Me, and will not hearken unto Me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.

King James Version (1611)
And if ye walke contrary vnto me, and will not hearken vnto mee, I will bring seuen times moe plagues vpon you, according to your sinnes.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And if after this ye should walk perversely, and not be willing to obey me, I will further bring upon you seven plagues according to your sins.

English Revised Version
And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.

Berean Standard Bible
If you walk in hostility toward Me and refuse to obey Me, I will multiply your plagues seven times, according to your sins.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
If ye goon contrarie to me, nether wolen here me, Y schal adde youre woundis til in to seuenfold for youre synnes;

Young's Literal Translation
`And if ye walk with Me [in] opposition, and are not willing to hearken to Me, then I have added to you a plague seven times, according to your sins,

Update Bible Version
And if you walk contrary to me, and will not listen to me, I will bring seven times more plagues on you according to your sins.

Webster's Bible Translation
And if ye shall walk contrary to me, and will not hearken to me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.

World English Bible
If you walk contrary to me, and won't listen to me, I will bring seven times more plagues on you according to your sins.

New King James Version
"Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins.

New Living Translation
"If even then you remain hostile toward me and refuse to obey me, I will inflict disaster on you seven times over for your sins.

New Life Bible
‘If you act against Me and will not obey Me, I will bring you seven times more trouble than your sins.

New Revised Standard
If you continue hostile to me, and will not obey me, I will continue to plague you sevenfold for your sins.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
If therefore, ye will go in opposition to me, And not be willing to hearken unto me, Then will I yet further plague you seven times according to your sins;

Douay-Rheims Bible
If you walk contrary to me, and will not hearken to me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you for your sins.

Revised Standard Version
"Then if you walk contrary to me, and will not hearken to me, I will bring more plagues upon you, sevenfold as many as your sins.

THE MESSAGE
"If you defy me and refuse to listen, your punishment will be seven times more than your sins: I'll set wild animals on you; they'll rob you of your children, kill your cattle, and decimate your numbers until you'll think you are living in a ghost town.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
'If then, you act with hostility against Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the plague on you seven times according to your sins.

Contextual Overview

¹⁴ "But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, ¹⁵ if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, ¹⁶ then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. ¹⁷ I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you. ¹⁸ And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins, ¹⁹ and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. ²⁰ And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit. ²¹ "Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins. ²² And I will let loose the wild beasts against you, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you few in number, so that your roads shall be deserted. ²³ "And if by this discipline you are not turned to me but walk contrary to me,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

contrary unto me: or, at all adventures with me, and so Leviticus 26:24

Reciprocal: Genesis 4:15 - sevenfold Exodus 9:14 - send all Exodus 11:1 - Yet will Leviticus 26:18 - seven times Leviticus 26:27 - General Leviticus 26:40 - and that 2 Chronicles 21:14 - plague Nehemiah 9:32 - little before thee Psalms 79:12 - render Psalms 90:11 - General Isaiah 15:9 - more Isaiah 24:17 - and the pit Jeremiah 4:20 - upon destruction Jeremiah 36:32 - there Ezekiel 7:26 - Mischief shall Ezekiel 21:14 - let the Daniel 3:19 - one seven Zechariah 14:12 - Their flesh

Cross-References

Ezra 4:6
And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And if ye walk contrary unto me,.... To his mind and will, to his laws, commands, and ordinances, showing no regard unto them by a walk and conversation agreeably to them, but neglecting and breaking them continually; or by chance, as the Targum of Jonathan, not with any intention and design to obey the Lord, and to honour and glorify him, but in a careless and indifferent manner, having no regard to the law of God, only now and then, as it happens, act according to it, but having no concern for the honour and glory of God:

and will not hearken unto me; to his voice in his laws and his precepts, or by his prophets, exhorting them to obedience to them:

I will bring seven times more plagues upon you, according to your sins; greater and sorer punishments still, and these more frequently repeated, and in proportion to their transgressions of his righteous laws.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

As “the book of the covenant” Exodus 20:22-33 concludes with promises and warnings Exodus 23:20-33, so does this collection of laws contained in the Book of Leviticus. But the former passage relates to the conquest of the land of promise, this one to the subsequent history of the nation. The longer similar passage in Deuteronomy Deut. 27–30 is marked by broader and deeper promises and denunciations having immediate reference not only to outward consequences, but to the spiritual death incurred by transgressing the divine will.

Leviticus 26:4

Rain in due season - The periodical rains, on which the fertility of the holy land so much depends, are here spoken of. There are two wet seasons, called in Scripture the former and the latter rain Deuteronomy 11:14; Jeremiah 5:24; Joel 2:23; Hosea 6:3; James 5:7. The former or Autumn rain falls in heavy showers in November and December. In March the latter or Spring rain comes on, which is precarious in quantity and duration, and rarely lasts more than two days.

Leviticus 26:5

Compare the margin reference; Joel 2:19; Job 11:18.

Leviticus 26:8

Five of you shall chase - A proverbial mode of expression for superiority in warlike prowess Deuteronomy 32:30; Isaiah 30:17.

Leviticus 26:9

Establish my covenant - All material blessings were to be regarded in the light of seals of the “everlasting covenant.” Compare Genesis 17:4-8; Nehemiah 9:23.

Leviticus 26:10

Bring forth the old because of the new - Rather, clear away the old before the new; that is, in order to make room for the latter. Compare the margin reference.

Leviticus 26:16

The first warning for disobedience is disease. “Terror” (literally trembling) is rendered trouble in Psalms 78:33; Isaiah 65:23. It seems here to denote that terrible affliction, an anxious temperament, the mental state ever at war with Faith and Hope. This might well be placed at the head of the visitations on a backslider who had broken the covenant with his God. Compare Deuteronomy 32:25; Jeremiah 15:8; Proverbs 28:1; Job 24:17; Psalms 23:4.

Consumption, and the burning ague - Compare the margin reference. The first of the words in the original comes from a root signifying to waste away; the latter (better, fever), from one signifying to kindle a fire. Consumption is common in Egypt and some parts of Asia Minor, but it is more rare in Syria. Fevers of different kinds are the commonest of all diseases in Syria and all the neighboring countries. The opposite promise to the threat is given in Exodus 15:26; Exodus 23:25.

Leviticus 26:18

For all this - i. e. for all the afflictions in Leviticus 26:16-17.

Seven times - The sabbatical number is here proverbially used to remind the people of the covenant. Compare Genesis 4:15, Genesis 4:24; Psalms 119:164; Proverbs 24:16; Luke 17:4.

Leviticus 26:19, Leviticus 26:20

The second warning is utter sterility of the soil. Compare Deuteronomy 11:17; Deuteronomy 28:18; Ezekiel 33:28; Ezekiel 36:34-35.

Leviticus 26:21, Leviticus 26:22

The third warning is the multiplication of destructive animals, etc. Compare Deuteronomy 32:24; Ezekiel 5:17; Ezekiel 14:15; Judges 5:6-7; Isaiah 33:8.

Leviticus 26:23-26

The fourth warning. Yahweh now places Himself as it were in a hostile position toward His people who “will not be reformed” (rather, brought unto God: Jeremiah 2:30). He will avenge the outraged cause of His covenant, by the sword, pestilence, famine, and captivity.

Leviticus 26:26

Omit “and.” “To break the staff of bread,” was a proverbial expression for cutting off the supply of bread, the staff of life (Psalms 105:16; Ezekiel 4:16; Ezekiel 5:16; Ezekiel 14:13; compare Isaiah 3:1). The supply was to be so reduced that one oven would suffice for baking the bread maple by ten women for ten families, and when made it was to be dealt out in sparing rations by weight. See 2 Kings 6:25; Jeremiah 14:18; Lamentations 4:9; Ezekiel 5:12; Hosea 4:10; Micah 6:14; Haggai 1:6.

Leviticus 26:27-33

The fifth warning. For Leviticus 26:29 see 2 Kings 6:28-29; Jeremiah 19:8-9; Lamentations 2:20; Lamentations 4:10; Ezekiel 5:10, for Leviticus 26:30 see 2 Chronicles 34:3; Ezekiel 6:4; Jeremiah 14:19, for Leviticus 26:31 see 2 Kings 25:9; Psalms 74:6-7 : for Leviticus 26:32-33 see Deuteronomy 28:37; Psalms 44:11; Jeremiah 9:16; Jeremiah 18:16; Ezekiel 5:1-17; Jeremiah 4:7; Ezekiel 9:6; Ezekiel 12:15; Zechariah 7:14.

Leviticus 26:30

High places - There is no doubt that the word here denotes elevated spots dedicated to false worship (see Deuteronomy 12:2), and especially, it would seem, to that of Baal Numbers 22:41; Joshua 13:17. Such spots were, however, employed and approved for the worship of Yahweh, not only before the building of the temple, but afterward (Judges 6:25-26; Judges 13:16-23; 1 Samuel 7:10; 1 Samuel 16:5; 1 Kings 3:2; 1 Kings 18:30; 2 Kings 12:3; 1 Chronicles 21:26, etc.). The three altars built by Abraham at Shechem, between Bethel and Ai, and at Mamre, appear to have been on heights, and so was the temple.

The high places in the holy land may thus have been divided into those dedicated to the worship of Yahweh, and those which had been dedicated to idols. And it would seem as if there was a constant struggle going on. The high places polluted by idol worship were of course to be wholly condemned. They were probably resorted to only to gratify a degraded superstition. See Leviticus 19:31; Leviticus 20:2-5. The others might have been innocently used for prayer and religious teaching. But the temptation appears to have been too great for the temper of the people. They offered sacrifice and burnt incense on them; and hence, thorough reformers of the national religion, such as Hezekiah and Josiah, removed the high places altogether 2 Kings 18:4; 2 Kings 23:5.

Your images - The original word is rendered in the margin of our Bible sun images (2 Chronicles 14:5; Isaiah 17:8; Ezekiel 6:4, etc.). Phoenician inscriptions prove that the word was commonly applied to images of Baal and Astarte, the god of the sun and the goddess of the moon. This exactly explains 2 Chronicles 34:4 following.

Idols - The Hebrew word here literally means things which could be rolled about, such as a block of wood or a lump of dirt. It was no doubt a name given in derision. Compare Isaiah 40:20; Isa 44:19; 2 Kings 1:2.

Leviticus 26:31

Sanctuaries - The holy places in the tabernacle and the temple (Psalms 68:35. Compare Psalms 74:7).

I will not smell the savor ... - See Leviticus 1:9.

Leviticus 26:35

More literally: All the days of its desolation shall it rest that time which it rested not in your Sabbaths while ye dwelt upon it. That is, the periods of rest of which the land had been deprived would be made up to it. Compare 2 Chronicles 36:20-21.

Leviticus 26:38

The land of your enemies shall eat you up - Compare Numbers 13:32; Ezekiel 36:13.

Leviticus 26:39

Iniquity - The meaning here is, in the punishment of their iniquity, and, in the next clause, in the punishment of the iniquity (as in Leviticus 26:41, Leviticus 26:43) of their fathers. In the next verse the same Hebrew word is properly represented by “iniquity.” Our translators have in several places put one of the English words in the text and the other in the margin (Genesis 4:13; Genesis 19:15; 2 Kings 7:9; Psalms 69:27, etc.). The language of Scripture does not make that trenchant division between sin and punishment which we are accustomed to do. Sin is its own punishment, having in itself, from its very commencement, the germ of death. “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” James 1:15; Romans 2:5; Romans 5:12.

Leviticus 26:40

trespass - The Hebrew word signifies an injury inflicted on the rights of a person, as distinguished from a sin or iniquity regarded as an outrage of the divine law. Every wrong act is of course both a sin and a trespass against God. In this place Yahweh takes the breach of the covenant as a personal trespass.

Leviticus 26:41

Uncircumcised hearts - The outward sign of the covenant might be preserved, but the answering grace in the heart would be wanting (Acts 7:51; Romans 2:28-29; Jeremiah 6:10; Jeremiah 9:26; compare Colossians 2:11).

Accept of the punishment of their iniquity - literally, enjoy their iniquity. The word here and in Leviticus 26:43 rendered “accept” in this phrase, is the same as is rendered “enjoy” in the expression “the land shall enjoy her sabbaths” Leviticus 26:34. The antithesis in Leviticus 26:43 is this: The land shall enjoy her sabbaths - and they shall enjoy the punishment of their iniquity. The meaning is, that the land being desolate shall have the blessing of rest, and they having repented shall have the blessing of chastisement. The feelings of a devout captive Israelite are beautifully expressed in Tobit 13:1-18.